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Book Review: The Golden Age (Locke & Key #6.5) by Joe Hill

Book Review: The Golden Age (Locke & Key #6.5) by Joe Hill

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Locke & Key: The Golden Age by Joe Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I read the original 6 volumes of Locke & Key, I fell head-over-heels in love with every element of it: the story, the art, the characters, the concepts, the setting, all of it completely enchanted me. I consider it one of my favorite series of all time, and definitely my favorite series of graphic novels I’ve ever read. Every single volume was a 5 star experience. I wouldn’t have changed a single sentence or frame. It’s one of those rare instances where the art and the prose carry equal weight in the story, and something about Rodriguez’s art style stole my heart as surely as Hill’s writing did. I loved every single thing about it. …

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Book Review: The Jade Setter of Janloon (The Green Bone Saga, #0.5) by Fonda Lee

Book Review: The Jade Setter of Janloon (The Green Bone Saga, #0.5) by Fonda Lee

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ARC was provided by the publisher—Subterranean Press—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by: Charis Loke

The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Green Bone Saga (Book #0.5 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Urban Epic Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Pages: 144 pages (Hardback edition)

Published: 30th April 2022 by Subterranean Press

The Jade Setter of Janloon is an exhilarating and heartfelt appetizer or dessert to The Green Bone Saga, depending on when you start this novella. …

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Book Review: Sharp Ends (The First Law World, #7) by Joe Abercrombie

Book Review: Sharp Ends (The First Law World, #7) by Joe Abercrombie

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Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: First Law World (Book #7 of 10)

Genre: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Grimdark Fantasy, Westerns

Pages: 369 pages (UK paperback edition)

Published: 26th April 2016 by Gollancz (UK) and Orbit (US)

Sharp Ends, the ultimate collection of tales from The First Law World by Joe Abercrombie, is a great dessert to provide insights and background for most of the previously established characters in the past six novels. …

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Book Review: Dreadgod (Cradle, #11) by Will Wight

Book Review: Dreadgod (Cradle, #11) by Will Wight

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Cover art illustration by: Patrick Foster

Dreadgod by Will Wight

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Cradle (Book #11 of 12)

Genre: Fantasy, Progression Fantasy, Xianxia

Pages: 504 pages (Kindle edition)

Published: 5th July 2022 by Hidden Gnome Publishing (Indie)

Dreadgod has prepared the series to reach its epic conclusion, but as an installment, Dreadgod was my third least favorite of the series.

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Book Review: Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) by Michael J. Sullivan

Book Review: Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) by Michael J. Sullivan

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Cover art illustrated by Marc Simonetti

Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Legends of the First Empire (Book #1 of 6)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 432 pages (Mass Market Paperback)

Published: 28th June 2016 by Del Rey

It’s always a great feeling when you start a new series from an author whose work you loved and find out their storytelling skill in their first installment of a series has improved. Well done, Michael J. Sullivan.

On my first read of Age of Myth, I gave it a 3.5/5 stars rating. Five years later, today, I finished my reread of the book. Similar to my experience of rereading The Riyria Revelations, I loved Age of Myth more on my second read. Let me enlighten you a bit on why this reread worked so well. And to do this, I will have to compare my experience of reading Age of Myth and The Crown Conspiracy, the first book in The Riyria Revelations series, and also my reread experience of them both.

“If given a choice between a potentially great hardship and doing nothing, people gravitated toward what was most familiar and comfortable. That was why leadership was needed. To do what was necessary rather than what was easy.”

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Book Review: Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

Book Review: Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1) by Robert Jackson Bennett

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Foundryside

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Founders Trilogy (Book #1 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fantasy, Urban High Fantasy, Science Fiction

Pages: 512 pages (Hardcover)

Published: 1st August 2018 by Crown (US) & Jo Fletcher (UK)

Thrillingly fun and highly imaginative, Foundryside is one of the most promising starts to a series I have read.

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TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : June 2022

TS’s Monthly Wrap-Up : June 2022

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Hello everyone!   I did wonder if I should keep up with my monthly wrap-up for June or do a half-year recap of best books read so far.   I decided with stick with the wrap-up in the end as I thought my Books of the Month will end up being on the half-year list anyway.

I can’t believe half of 2022 had passed by already.  Hope that all of you have been reading great books so far this year.    Before I start, can I just say that Stranger Things Season 4 was absolutely phenomenal!  I still can’t stop thinking about it, and that ending.

NB. Books are rated within its genre.  For avoidance of doubt, rereads are not considered for Book of the Month.

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Book review: The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

Book review: The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) by Brandon Sanderson

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The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages.”

The Hero of Ages is exactly as epic a conclusion as I remembered. I feared that knowing all of the big twists and reveals might lead to it not being as powerful upon rereading as it was when I experienced it the first time, but those concerns were unwarranted. My anticipation of said reveals made for a reading journey that was just as fulfilling as my first read-through. Sanderson’s Mistborn trilogy isn’t quite a perfect series, but it’s very, very close. With fantastic world building, high stakes and palpable tension, mysteries to be solved and a whole plethora of wonderful characters to root for, philosophical musings on belief and hope balanced with brilliant action scenes and some of the most cinematic and interesting magic systems I’ve ever encountered, I don’t think it’s at all a stretch to call Mistborn a masterpiece.
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Book Review: Locklands (The Founders Trilogy, #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett

Book Review: Locklands (The Founders Trilogy, #3) by Robert Jackson Bennett

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ARC was provided by the publisher—Del Rey—in exchange for an honest review.

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Founders Trilogy (Book #3 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Science Fantasy, Urban High Fantasy, Science Fiction

Pages: 560 pages (Kindle edition)

Published: 28th June 2022 by Del Rey (US) & Jo Fletcher (UK)

Locklands is a truly inventive, emotional, genre-blending, and reality-defying finish to The Founders Trilogy.

“We’re all the result of countless actions and choices made throughout the centuries, and the odds of those actions and choices going the exact same way again are basically nil.”

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Book Review: Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery, by Brom

Book Review: Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery, by Brom

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Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery by Brom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Brom is almost distressingly talented. Not only is the man a brilliant artist, he has a deft hand and quick wit when it comes to storytelling. Krampus was the first book I had ever read by him, and it was one of my top reads of 2021. This book didn’t hit me quite as hard, but it did prove to me that Krampus was definitely not a one-off. Slewfoot is an exploration of control through religion, the subjugation of women under the patriarchy, the dangers of suppression when mingled with superstition, and the near mystical ability of nature to heal herself from wounds inflicted by man. And on top of all that, it’s just a fun, if brutal, story.

“Angels must often do dark deeds in the name of the Lord.”

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